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Only 41% Of Black Women See Themselves Depicted As Beautiful In Popular Media

It's a sad statistic.

By
Sharon Lynn Pruitt

When it comes to representation in the media, black women have always gotten a raw deal. Turn on the TV and you're likely to see black women depicted as one-dimensional characters: the "angry black woman" stereotype, the uneducated comic relief, and the ubiquitous "baby mama" caricature, itself a descriptor almost exclusively reserved for black single mothers.

ATTN: is shedding light on this problem by posting a supercut of the negative stereotypes of black women so often seen in popular media. Though it's painful to watch, it really goes to show just how pervasive these stereotypes are.

"Negative images of black women appear twice as frequently as positive images," flashed across the screen, and once you see all the stereotypes lined up in a row, it's not hard to believe at all.

A revealing study conducted by Essence magazine revealed that only 41% of black women see themselves depicted as beautiful in popular media, whereas 85% of those same women reported regularly seeing represenations of sterotypical "baby mama" characters.

Luckily, #BlackGirlMagic is here to save the day, and help black girls and women fight back.